For the first time in years, German sweet makers have seen a significant drop in the number of exports to Britain, Stephan Nießner said. The UK market makes up a significant proportion of Germany’s confectionary exports, with around seven percent of sweets produced in the country bound for Great Britain. Addressing business leaders in Berlin, Mr Nießner, Chairman of the Association of the German Confectionery Industry, said the value of sweets and snacks sold to the UK had fallen by 5.1 percent since the Brexit referendum in 2016. He attributed…

PR This week’s selection of products are sure to add a but more sparkle to your life EASTER RISING Salted caramel and chocolate hot cross buns, £1.70, Marks & Spencer (0333 014 8000, marksandspencer.com) Purists might argue that this particular flavour combination makes these more of a cake than a hot cross bun, but however you want to categorise them, there’s no denying how mouth-wateringly delicious they are. Lightly toasted (watch out for molten caramel and messy melted chocolate) and spread lightly with butter, they’re our favourite seasonal treat at…

How The West… captures Led Zep on their 1972 tour of America. Heard on the vinyl in particular, a ferocious version of Rock’n’Roll, with Page frenziedly thrashing across the rhythm and Robert Plant extending the final “lonely, lonely” section to absurd effect, will pin you to the back wall. Originally released in 2003, culled from various bootlegs, it now appears with extra tracks in a box set complete with full- colour booklet and limited edition poster.

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that’s taken over our lives Lt. Anthony Matus uses an Xbox controller to maneuver the Colorado’s photonic mast. US Navy When the US Navy commissions a submarine Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer calls “a true marvel of technology and innovation,” you might not expect this would include a popular gaming device. Yet the USS Colorado, which makes its debut Saturday, manages to merge next-generation attack capabilities with, well, an Xbox controller. The controller operates two photonics masts.…

FILE – This March 6, 2014 file photo shows the idled Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the nation’s only underground nuclear waste repository, near Carlsbad, N.M. The U.S. Department of Energy has commissioned a national group of scientists to study the viability of diluting surplus weapons-grade plutonium and storing it permanently at the federal government’s underground repository in southern New Mexico. A committee of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has been tasked with evaluating the storage potential at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File)…

Lavender soap may occasionally have some strange effectsAllen Donikowski/Getty By Clare Wilson Essential oils from plants are touted as having many beneficial properties. But just because they’re natural doesn’t mean they’re harmless – two commonly used plant oils seem to mimic female hormones in the body, occasionally causing boys to grow breasts. Chemicals from lavender are often used in toiletries for their scent, and are said to aid relaxation. Tea tree oil is a mild antiseptic and a common ingredient of children’s hair products as it is claimed to prevent…

5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About St. Patrick More Google’s latest Doodle is saluting St. Patrick’s Day with a nod to the rich history of Ireland and St. Patrick himself. The Google Doodle, the work of Irish artist Ross Stewart, uses the ogham alphabet, Ireland’s oldest form of writing. The carvings on the “L” stone are meant to represent the letters of the ancient writing system, which was used roughly 1,600 years ago. Ogham, of course, isn’t the only history associated with St. Patrick’s Day. Here are five things…

North Korea defied global sanctions to earn nearly $200 million in 2017 from illicit trade in goods like coal, oil and arms, in part by borrowing tactics from the golden age of piracy, says the leader of a UN panel of experts that issued a report on North Korea Friday. According to the report, despite four new sets of UN sanctions in 2017, the isolated nation has continued to earn hard currency through increasingly evasive shipping practices, like transferring petroleum from ship to ship at sea, manipulating locator signals, and…

On the seafloor of the shallow coastal regions north of Siberia, microorganisms produce methane when they break down plant remains. If this greenhouse gas finds its way into the water, it can also become trapped in the sea ice that forms in these coastal waters.

Developers Studio Wildcard announced today that they are bringing ARK Survival Evolved to mobile devices later this year. This will be done through an agreement with veteran mobile developer War Drum Studios (Bully, Grand Theft Auto, Auralux), to bring the entire ARK: Survival Evolved massively multiplayer survival experience to iOS and Android. ARK: Mobile will be free-to-play and also support both single-player and multiplayer gameplay. “This on-the-go version features the full online survival experience contained in the PC and console versions of ARK, including a gigantic island to explore, 80+…